Here the irony is not that the poem advocates suicide but says the opposite. The irony
lies in indirection, as it offers unexpected and ultimately despairing reasons for
avoiding suicide and continuing to live, and in the ambiguity of the title: the word resume,
without accents, means to "go on again, after an interruption; to continue," all
of which is appropriate to the poem. Resume, with accents, means a
"summary," particularly "a brief account of personal qualifications and
experience," as if the poem summarizes the speaker's experiences and qualifications
in this area (the speaker has tried them all and knows!). Irony can entail humor --
as in the title and development of this poem; often there is a serious edge to or point
behind the humor.

Meade offers a biographical reading of "Resume," linking it to one of
Parker's suicide attempts while she was under the care of Dr. Alvan Barach, a New York
cardiologist and psychotherapist.

As before, she tried to make light of her impulse to self-destruction, although this
time psychiatric treatment made it harder to accomplish. In verse, she compiled a
consumer's report for those contemplating suicide and rated the various methods of killing
one's self: Razors, as she knew from experience, were painful, and drugs caused vomiting
and cramps. Other methods she had not actually tested had to be dismissed on hearsay as
hopelessly unreliable: Given the inadequacy of what was available to an aspiring suicide,
Dorothy figured she might as well go on living. When "Resume" was published in
The Conning Tower [F. P. A.'s column in the New York World newspaper], some people
admired the way she had transformed a near-fatal experience into dark humor. As might be
expected, Dr. Barach was not among them.